Bomber, Gunmen Attack Charity in Afghanistan

The attack Wednesday on Save the Children’s provincial office in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, began with a bombing.

KABUL—Militants stormed a local Afghan office of the international charity Save the Children on Wednesday, setting off a gun battle with government security forces that has left at least 12 people wounded, provincial officials said.

The Taliban, Afghanistan’s largest insurgency, immediately denied responsibility for the assault in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. The local affiliate of Islamic State also operates in the province.

U.S. and Afghan forces have been carrying out ground and air operations against Islamic State fighters in Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan.

Wednesday’s attack began with a car bomb at the gate of Save the Children’s compound, said Attaullah Khogyanay, spokesman for the provincial governor. The attackers then rushed in and opened fire, he said. Photographs circulated on social media purporting to be from the site of the attack show children accompanied by adults fleeing.

On Saturday Taliban fighters raided an international luxury hotel in the capital, Kabul, killing at least 22 people, mostly foreigners.

Write to Habib Khan Totakhil at habib.totakhil@wsj.com and Craig Nelson at craig.nelson@wsj.com

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